Drowning In Your Sorrows Once More
by Infinite Snow
Summary: Sometimes, even though a boy and a girl love each other, the strings of Fate doesn't approve of them being together. And so it goes. [Tora/Misaki][Misaki/Usui] (Major character death)


Probably two big events had happened at the same time that it had been too much of a shock for people to handle.

Igarashi Tora had broken off his engagement with Chiyo and Usui Takumi had been killed in a plane accident on his way to Japan.

Misaki didn't care about Tora's engagement with Chiyo. When she watched the news, the list appeared of all the passengers that got killed in the crash landing.

Misaki had clutched onto a pillow, somehow hoping that Takumi managed to jump off the plane and save himself, but that would be too much to ask.

Passenger number 39 – Usui Takumi.

Misaki's heart dropped into her stomach and she fell forward in sobs.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

-x-

"Did you hear?" Maki said once the president was done with his paperwork.

Tora leaned back with a wine glass in his hand, not caring about the world. The only world he even existed in was a world with Misaki in it.

"What?" Tora decided to ask anyways.

"A plane crashed overseas in the Pacific Ocean. That plane was coming to Tokyo all the way from London," Maki said.

"So?" Tora grunted.

"Takumi was one of the passengers," Maki concluded.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Tora glared, shaking his wine glass and hearing the ice cubes clink against the glass in the pool of blood red.

Maki stiffened, bowed and took his leave.

The truth was, Tora did know how this was a big news. Even though he didn't like Usui at all, Misaki loved him. And anything that tore Misaki apart, tore Tora's heart apart as well.

"Tch," Tora sighed, sinking back into the silk pillows of his king sized bed, "Love plays such a cruel game of chess."

-x-

Misaki listlessly walked to school. She could almost see it. How Usui would wait at her door and complain for her to hurry.

But now, where he should be, a silhouette of his body, a mere ghost of his soul, existed.

Usui would be running after her, she thought, with a PB&J sandwich hanging out from the corner of his mouth, as she tried to run away from him.

But now he was gone.

Misaki would be yelling at Usui for being a perverted outer space alien. She would try to hit him, but he would block her. And afterwards, he would draw her into a hug.

But now he is dead.

A lone tear slipped from Misaki's eyes, as she hastily rubbed them away.

"No," Misaki whispered, "No. He wouldn't like me crying."

-x-

Misaki felt tired. From having to force a smile at school and at Maid Latte. She almost didn't want to continue life, looking at the faces of pity no matter where she went.

In the eyes of society, she is a pathetic little girl, mourning the loss of her boyfriend.

Misaki slipped her shoes off and slowly and robotically unlocked the door.

"I'm home…" Misaki whispered, setting her shoes down in her slot in the shoe cubby by the door. Softly clicking the door behind her, her little sister came.

"Big sis, some fancy looking students from Ayuzawa School came," Suzuna bluntly said.

Misaki smiled sadly and ruffled Suzuna's hair, murmuring, "It's Miyabigaoka, Suzuna."

"Big sis, are you okay?" For once, Suzuna looked genuinely scared. Sure she looked like she didn't care more than prize clubs, but that wasn't true at all. More than prizes she loved her sister, mother and Shintani.

Misaki's head nodded, lips curving into a smaller smile, muttering, "You worry so much."

Suzuna was not satisfied with her sister's answer so she made sure to not leave her side for the day.

Misaki slid the door open and saw the Miyabigaoka student council sitting on the floor.

Misaki sat in front of them and turned to Suzuna, "Would you kindly make some tea, please?"

Suzuna nodded and hopped off into the kitchen. Turning back, Misaki looked Tora in the eye and gave him a glare.

"What do you need, Igarashi kaichou?" Misaki spoke silently yet confidently.

Tora waved his hand and the student council members filed out of the room and out of the house. They would probably wait for him in the limo or something.

"What do you want?" Misaki stared at Tora yet again.

"My that is not how you treat your guests," Tora grinned.

"I am repeating my question. What do you want?" Misaki said in an even voice.

"Always wanting to get down to the point?" Tora tsk'ed and rested his chin on his palm and leaned forward in interest, "I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I just saw the news yesterday," Misaki glared at Tora, "Do you think I would be smiling now?"

Tora's grin faded away. He was so much more serious that it scared Misaki what the womanizer might do to her.

"I know you're sad," Tora said in an even tone, even reaching for Misaki's hand, who pulled it away, in disgust.

"Don't touch me," Misaki's eyes brimmed with tears.

"But he wouldn't like it if you kept moping around," Tora finished as if Misaki had never said anything in between.

"How would you know?" Misaki's amber eyes hardened as she wiped her tears away, "You treat women like dolls and play toys to use once and throw away. Lest must you know what love is."

That's when Tora lost it. Slamming his hands on the table, he towered over Misaki, yelling, "How can you not understand that I lo-!"

"Tea is ready."

The two turned to Suzuna who had several cups filled with warm liquid on a tray. She looked around and sighed, murmuring, "Most of them left. I made too much."

Suzuna bored her honey eyes into Tora's liquid gold eyes. Searching his eyes for something, her eyes widened in realization.

"Were you about to…?" Suzuna asked.

Tora blushed. It wasn't a small blush that was usually a trick of a light. It was a heavy, hard, dark, deep blush that _no one_ would see Igarashi Tora ever don. Because everyone knew, the heir of Igarashi Foundation _never_ fell in love. It was simply laughable.

Tora swung his bag on his shoulder and stood up to his full height, storming out of the room and the house. The slam of the door resonated and shook the entire building.

"If he slams that door hard enough, it will break as well," Suzuna murmured angrily, setting the tea tray on the table and pinching her nose.

"He was about to what?" Misaki took a cup of tea and blew the steam and looked at her sister for guidance.

Suzuna looked down to her sister, who looked helpless and tired. Bags around the eyes, hair sprawled everywhere, yet her sister still radiated beauty off of her. No matter Tora fell hard.

Suzuna chuckled and slightly shook her head in amusement as she sat down in front of her sister. Misaki cocked an eyebrow, as she took a dainty sip.

"He was about to tell you that he loves you."

-x-

Tora slammed the limo door when the limo parked in front of his mansion.

He ignored Maki when they arrived.

He ignored the long rows of maids and butlers welcoming him home and giving him a detailed analysis of all the things they accomplished when he was gone.

Slamming his door open, he threw his book bag on his study table. He hastily took off his uniform jacket and slammed it onto his bed.

Raking his hand through his hair, he let out a frustrated growl. He had never seen Misaki so defenseless. He never saw her so tired.

Normally she would be pushing him around, to always leave. Her hair flied everywhere as her eyes took on a demonic bright pink glare and red horns stuck out of her head as she suddenly seemed monstrously large and everyone else were ants.

She would always try to use aikido on him when the both of them knew it was useless. She frowned. She glared. She even _growled._

Misaki, in Tora's eyes, was the most unique woman ever. So different to the rest of the women who were normally so submissive to his wealth. It was like she was her own specimen of women at first.

Then it opened his eyes that not all women are willing to sell their souls for money.

His world was black and white, and meeting Misaki had washed up his vision with beautiful colors that he didn't even know the world even had to offer.

It was like seeing through new pair of eyes.

And now look at her. So weak, frail, thin and tired. Bags underneath her eyes, hair strewn across her shoulders, blanket wrapped around her as she puffed a steam away from the tea cup.

This was the weak and vulnerable Misaki Ayuzawa.

Tora clutched at his hair. He went to the filing cabinet and took out the file on Misaki. His liquid gold eyes scanned across her file as he read the one line he didn't want to encounter.

'_In a relationship with Usui Takumi'_

Tora growled as he threw the papers everywhere. He almost felt as if his heart had been ripped out of his chest.

Just when he was about to take out Usui's picture and play darts with it, a servant meekly knocked on his door, making Tora glare at it and roar, "WHAT IS IT?!"

Tora heard some soft whimpers behind the door, and he sighed in relief. It was just a servant, not Maki.

"I-I wanted t-to t-tell that y-you have a-a c-call for you…" the servant quivered behind the door.

Tora sighed and slammed away the picture and the dart set. He roughly scooped up the papers off the floor and set them on a nice neat stack on his bed. He wouldn't want to ruin them.

He so wished to pin Takumi's picture to the wall and throw dart after dart at it. He wanted to watch the darts pin holes in his face and distort the image, because that is what he did to Misaki's heart by dying on her, and leaving her behind.

"Which phone?"

"The one in the lobby, young master."

Tora nodded, surprised that the person could have called his personal cell phone number or the extension number of four digits that would redirect the call to his bedroom's telephone.

"Perhaps it isn't a business call," Tora muttered as he took the outstretched telephone and put it to is ear and spoke, "Hello?"

"For someone as rich and snobby and snooty as you, the only greeting you have to say is hello?" A blunt voice came from the receiver.

Tora froze as he remembered the voice. Suzuna.

"What do you want?" Tora was on the brink of profanities but he realized Suzuna was far too young to hear such words.

"Look, I know your little secret. After today, it isn't clearer as day that you are in love with my sister," Suzuna scoffed.

"How do you know?" Tora growled.

"Did you see yourself? You blushed so easily. You know, if you weren't in love, then you wouldn't be so bashful just a few hours ago," Suzuna spat.

"I could have been sick," Tora argued.

"Cut it out," Suzuna sighed, "I know you were fine. You didn't stumble on your way out. Good job on almost breaking our door, by the way."

Tora cringed. He remembered that Misaki's house was frail and it could fall apart.

"What do you want?" Tora sighed.

"You are going to pull your big boy pants up and confess to my sister, that is what you are going to do, snooty rich guy," Suzuna calmly spoke that it irked him.

"Well she is moping. I can't take advantage of that," Tora spat.

"I don't care if she is moping," Suzuna cut in, "I just want to see her happy. She might not even believe it but I care about her more than prize clubs."

"Who knew you actually had a heart?" Tora mocked.

"Yes, and who knew you had a brain? I always thought there was nothing inside that glorious head of blonde hair of yours," Suzuna snapped.

Tora grit his teeth and said, "When?"

"When you feel like it. But you will tell her or else I will find out a way to cut your head off."

And with that, Suzuna hung up. Believe it or not, if he was scared of Misaki sometimes, he had a reason to be intimidated by Suzuna sometimes as well.

-x-

It had been a few weeks since that. Tora had never left Misaki alone. He would send her flirty text messages and make her angry on purpose in order to wash away her heartbreak.

Tora grinned and even laughed as he read her last text message to him, which was a big rant on how he was a huge pervert and maybe she should get her phone number changed.

The phone ringed and a knock came to his door.

"Young master, the phone is ringing," an elder butler bowed, "Coming from the lobby."

Lobby. Phone ringing. Tora's heart sunk into his stomach. Suzuna.

"Get ready for hell," Tora murmured underneath his breath before blowing his bangs out of his eyes and saying carelessly, "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

Tora cascaded the stairs and took the phone outstretched towards him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Suzuna's icy voice leaked through the receiver of the phone. Tora could only imagine how irritated she looked.

"What now?"

"When are you going to grow a pair and confess to her?" Suzuna snapped.

"You said I could take my own pace!"

"I didn't know you would take this long. I thought it would be a week to the most."

"Listen," Tora breathed on the phone hard, "Your sister is going through a heart break. You know how she loved him, and now he died. Can't you give her all the time she needs to get over him and then I can confess?"

"I never know how you can be so rich and impatient with your worldly desires yet you will be patient with my sister," Suzuna flatly said, "How hard did you hit your head on a rock after you met her?"

"I didn't hit my head!" Tora burst.

"Okay you didn't. You are all hot tempered as before. But with Misaki-"

"I am telling you to wait, okay?" Tora stressed before Suzuna murmured some profanities about Tora before hanging up.

"Seriously, how does Misaki put up with her potty mouth?" Tora asked himself as he placed the phone back.

-x-

Misaki wrapped her scarf around her and shivered as she knew it was getting late. She was coming out of Maid Latte, and she knew she had homework to do, which she decided to finish on Saturday. Misaki somehow loved it that on the days she had the most homework, there was always a weekend to get it done.

"Lady luck is on my side…" Misaki mumbled as she walked home.

"Welcome home," Suzuna bluntly greeted her as her mother smiled sheepishly from behind the corner.

"I'm home," Misaki smiled as she went and placed her book bag down. Suddenly her phone vibrated, in which she interpreted as another perverted text from Tora.

_From: Igarashi Tora_

_To: Ayuzawa Misaki_

_Subject: Read._

_Sent at: 7:30 P.M._

_Message:_

_Meet me in the park around 7:45. I want to tell you something. Meet you at the swings._

Misaki blinked in confusion. The message was sent five minutes ago so she only had time to grab a coat and walk out the door again as her mom called out.

"Misaki, you just came home! Where are you going?"

Misaki smiled over her shoulder briefly, "To see someone important."

Then she left. Minako wiped her forehead in confusion.

"Did she mean Usui-san?" She asked.

"No, of course not," Suzuna sighed, "His body hasn't been buried. It's in pieces from the crash. She meant Igarashi-san."

"I never knew she liked him," Minako murmured happily.

"I am sorry to say it is rather the opposite," Suzuna said, "The dense spoiled brat likes Misaki. It took her to shake him into his right mind that money can't buy everything. It can't buy love."

"I don't think Igarashi-san can live without her now," Minako sat in front of her daughter, marveling at how Suzuna could be so mature at this age.

"He can't, even if he tries to," Suzuna softly smiled, "After all, she is his everything."

"I hope it goes out well," Minako said worried.

"I share your sentiment right now, Mother," Suzunna looked at the closed door in which Misaki left through, "That idiot better confess. Or else everyone will see his head rolling throughout the streets."

-x-

Misaki huffed and puffed as the delicate glass like leaves of the dead winter crunched underneath her school boots.

The raven haired beauty focused her liquid gold eyes on the park she had just reached and looked for the swings. There she saw a figure sitting there.

Misaki went right for the swings and sat on the swing to the left of Tora. He turned around and smiled at her.

"Right on time, prez."

Misaki's heart clenched at all the times Usui called her that.

"Don't call me that," Misaki snapped.

"Why not?"

"Just… don't."

Tora reached forward and grabbed her right hand in his left, making her look at him.

"Misaki, I want to tell you something."

The whole world felt like time stopped. Every mysterious sound just disappeared. It was like a snow globe with only Tora and Misaki in it.

"Yes?" Misaki whispered, her hollow amber eyes just staring back at his gold ones.

"I love you," Tora blurted.

Misaki felt like her heart could just burst out right now. It wasn't like the flowers of moe by Satsuki. It wasn't Honoka's fangirling, or Erika's funny antics or Subaru's subtleness.

"I love you," Tora whispered, "For a long time, actually."

He took her other hand and grasped it there, making her heart beat even faster.

"I thought before I met you, that money could buy anything. In my world there was white and black. There was no in between. Meeting you made the impossible a reality. You brought colors into my eyes and my world felt realistic. After meeting you, I didn't desire other women to surround me, I only wanted you, and you were the only thing I couldn't buy, and that is when I learned to accept it.

"I slowly fell in love with you when you went after him. I fell in love with your strength to become such a sophisticated lady. I was awed on how you would change yourself so drastically for someone you loved so much, and when he died, I didn't like it one bit because I knew him being gone would take away all those smiles and fierce aura that I met. And if it was gone and if you left me, you would just thrust me into the same world I was in before I met you, a world of coldness, no love and black and white," Tora finished.

"Tora what are you asking me?"

"Will you please be my girlfriend?" Tora asked, and he held her hands as he got down on both of his knees, ready to beg for the rest of his life.

"He would want you happy, Misaki," Tora whispered, "That's why he loves you and you love him, right?"

Tears spilled from Misaki's eyes. No matter how much she tried to deny that she would ever feel something for Tora, she knew it was true. She loved him at the back of her mind, but she loved Takumi more than him.

But how would Takumi react if he saw his beloved Misa-chan waste the rest of her life away? He would be saddened that she isn't living life to the fullest, yet remembering him.

"I love you too," Misaki huffed because it was too painful to hiccup due to the subzero temperatures.

"Yes?" Tora gently smiled.

"Yes," Misaki nodded, and felt warmth surround her as Tora, in glee, stood up and enveloped her sitting figure on the swing, in between his arms.

-x-

Seven years later, after both of them had attended university and gotten their high level degrees, Misaki and Tora stood hand in hand in front of a grave.

Not just any grave. But the grave of Usui Takumi.

Big skip, right? What happened was Misaki had called the airlines Takumi flew in and they told her they recovered his remains of his body. It was her wish what to do with it since she was his girlfriend and they couldn't get personal contact information from a family member, so she was the second resort.

Misaki had chosen for him to be buried as soon as possible in her local cemetery.

The day was a beautiful sunny day, with birds chirping about, lush green trees, beautiful spring grass in the cemetery and flowers popping everywhere in between.

They came for just no reason at all. They just wanted to tell their good news.

"Hey Takumi," Misaki started, "I love you, even after all these years. I know you would want me to be happy even if you passed away, so I tried my best."

Tora gently smiled at her and squeezed her hand.

"So I did," Misaki tried to keep a straight voice, "I found comfort, happiness and eventually love with Tora and he never left my side after all these years. I know you would be happy."

"We're getting married next week," Tora happily gazed at their left hands which donned beautiful engagement rings, "And I hope, you continue to watch over my fiancé and soon to be wife. She wants to let you know that after all these years, she never stopped loving you and never will. You have a special place in her heart, and mine too. You were an awesome brother-like friend, even though our encounters weren't the most pleasant."

Misaki let a sob rip out of her lips and Tora shushed it by gently hugging her and burying her face into his chest and rubbing her back.

"I'm sure he wouldn't want to see you cry, Misaki."

In a distance, Takumi watched them with a fond smile on his lips. After he died, he watched over his beloved for every moment for seven years.

"He's always with you, Misa-chan, right here in your heart," Tora pointed at her heart when they broke the hug.

"He was here with me the whole time?" Misaki sniffled.

_I never left, _Takumi whispered throughout the trees, the wind, and the silence.

-fin-

**Yes, I am sorry for my long half month hiatus on here. Kill me guys, but don't send hate mail – AKA flame.**

**I know, Tora is OOC, Misaki is way too vulnerable, Suzuna was way more violent than she should be, and there is barely a Takumi scene. Get over it. That makes this one shot mine and not someone else's.**

**Love you lots, and keep reading!**

**Infinite Snow**


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